Friday, March 8, 2013

I saw this in a Dollar General store the other day, but I'm not exactly sure what the hell it is:

The description on the box says something about "the trolls of the mountain," but the image looks something like Santa Claus. But then the banner over santa troll's head reads "A touch of country magic." So what does "country magic"--and what exactly is country magic?--have to do with Santa Claus or trolls? They're trying to sell brooms here, so why the mixed layers of references and imagery?

Thursday, March 7, 2013

I'm scratching my head here, trying to figure out why the kid is in this advertisement. What does he have to do with the content of the flyer? It's for an organization called Heritage for the Blind, but this boy doesn't seem to be blind at all. And there's nothing about the service, or the way it is framing itself, that suggests anything child-friendly or kid-related. I know that market and design people like to use children in their ads to give things a particular feel -- something is innocent, something is pure, something is good for the family -- but what the hell is the function of this kid? Is he going to come tow your truck? Is he threatening to visit your home and blind you?

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Mmmmmmm. What's cooking? Something smells good this morning. What is it? Might it be this week's installment of

RETRO-ADTIVITY?

Something sizzling from 1959:

"Mornindine" was the trade name of pipamazine, a drug prescribed for women during pregnancy, supposedly to help alleviate morning sickness. It was eventually pulled from the market because it caused hepatic lesions.

But screw mom's liver! As long as she gets up to make everyone breakfast, and dad doesn't have to dirty his hands, who cares? Right?

Just who is this Gallery guy?

The Gallery of the Absurd is a repository of weird--but real--advertisements, labels, and signs. It began in 1996 as a simple website of scanned images and sarcastic commentary, featuring such specialty pages as "The Annoying J. Crew Model of the Week," "The Arch Deluxe Hate Page," "Clowns Are Scary," and "Jenny McCarthy, Enough Is Enough!" Due to massive audience feedback and contributions, The Gallery quickly grew in popularity, winning the 1997 Webby Award in the "Weird" category. After a brief hiatus, it is back as a blog, so folks can now easily get their daily fix of the warm and creamy goodness that is contemporary marketing.